Although Candice Dominguez, ’19, competed in track and earned her master’s degree, her need to help others always superseded her desire to be in the limelight. Even so, she found herself on stage earning a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs while fulfilling her aspirations in player engagement.
“I worked as a Husker graduate assistant in equipment, but I wasn’t passionate about it,” said Dominguez, who high jumped at Nebraska.
While considering her options for her future, she decided to reach out to a Chiefs’ representative. “I asked for an interview and he told me to call. By the end of our first conversation, he wanted to see my résumé.”
Dominguez quickly advanced from a temporary intern to full-time player engagement coordinator. The new position allowed her to thrive.
“I enjoy the relationship building aspect of my job. I work with football staff, family members and significant others of players and coaches, business staff, community partners and more. We do cool things in the community like renting out a haunted house for team bonding. Remembering what we do is about more than just sports is important and also makes it fun,” she said.
Dominguez, who achieved a career best high jump of 1.81 meters as a Husker, enjoys doing the little things that otherwise might not happen.
“During training camp, I made birthday cards for the players. After delivering a card, the player stopped and said, ‘I didn’t think anyone knew it was my birthday.’ His words stuck with me as I realized they are often seen as only football players. The conversations and connections make my job worth the long hours,” Dominguez said.
She often uses what she learned in her human resources and organizational behavior MBA courses.
“After competing for so long and having an attachment to my sport, I went through an identity crisis after graduation. Luckily, I found my place with the Chiefs,” she said. “Players in the NFL experience a similar range of emotion when they stop playing. We try to find out what it is they want to do after football to make the transition easier.”
Published: February 4, 2021